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January 15, 2018

Winter Writing Update

The beginning of the year is always exciting because it’s a fresh start and an excellent time to make some goals. I started the year off with a bang, announcing my next novel, Mental Contact. I just finished a final edit on another manuscript, which is now ready for a professional edit, and have started the first round of edits for the manuscript I wrote during NaNoWriMo. Since I don’t really outline much before writing a first draft, this is when I nail out all the details, including settings, maps, timelines, character details, etc.

I’ve also been tinkering with covers for both of those novels, working through Chris Fox’s Write to Market, putting together a small promo for Quality DNA, planning the launch for Mental Contact, booking events I want to attend this year (check out my events page!), putting together a giveaway, and obsessively reading and reviewing books.

It’s a lot. Sometimes just opening my laptop is a little overwhelming because there’s so much to do. Naturally, I’ve completely neglected social media. Throwing pictures and tweets out onto the interwebs without interacting with people (you know—being social) doesn’t do any good, so I just haven’t been posting much.

The lead-up to a book launch is always a bit stressful, and I’ve never had this many manuscripts in various steps of completion vying for my attention. When I was working on The End of Refuge, that was the only book I was working on. However, I have gotten a bit more efficient at this ‘writer’ thing, so editing a manuscript isn’t nearly as daunting as the first time around.

I’m tempted to only do the more fun things. I really want to work on a second novel, continuing where my Other Humans (working title) manuscript left off. But I know if I don’t edit this one first, I’ll get lots of details wrong in a second book, which means more editing woes in the future. On the other hand, I’m not particularly skilled at marketing and wish I could just skip that entire part.

And then there’s my full-time job: the kids. Let’s just say I’m super glad that winter break is over!